Archaeology - Pyu
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Sriksetra Survey Map 2005-2007 |
| Date of publication: | | April 2008 |
| Author/creator: | | U Thein Lwin, U Thant Zaw Oo, U Kyaw Myo Win, U Win Kyaing, U Min Tun Tun Win, U Nyein Lwin, Dr. Bob Hudson, Dr. Terry Lustig |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Field School of Archaeology, Pyay, University of Sydney via SOAS BULLETIN OF BURMA RESEARCH 5 2007 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (3MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.timemap.net/~hudson/bobhpage.htm |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 July 2010 |
|
| Title: | | A Pyu Homeland in the Samon Valley: a new theory of the origins of Myanmar's early urban system |
| Date of publication: | | March 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | "Archaeological evidence suggests that between about 500 BC and 200 AD, a ricegrowing
population was living in a densely settled system of small villages in the Samon
Valley in Upper Myanmar. This area was at the crossroads of ancient trade routes.
Wealth was accumulating due to agriculture and to access to the copper resources of the
Shan hills, the semi-precious stone and iron resources of the Mount Popa plateau, and the
salt resources of Halin. This wealth is evident in grave goods unique to the Samon
region, which includes items traded from or inspired by Qin and Han Dynasty China.
This paper will explore the possibility that the appearance early in the First Millennium
AD of the walled Pyu cities of Maingmaw, Beikthano, Halin and Sriksetra, at remarkably
consistent distances from the Samon Valley, may be a consequence of intra-regional
population flow from the Samon area. While the Pyu cities shared cultural elements such
as religious and decorative items, and coins bearing auspicious symbols, with neighbours
including Dhanyawadi and Vesali on the west coast, the Dvaravati settlements of
Thailand, and trade centres such as Oc Eo in Vietnam, their relationship to the landscape,
to each other and to the Samon valley suggests that they formed a distinct economic and
cultural system (Gutman & Hudson 2004)." |
| Author/creator: | | Bob Hudson |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Proceedings of the Myanmar Historical Commission Golden Jubilee International Conference, Jan12-14, 2005, Yangon |
| Format/size: | | pdf (642K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 December 2005 |
|
| Title: | | Interpreting Pyu material culture: Royal chronologies and finger-marked bricks |
| Date of publication: | | June 2004 |
| Description/subject: | | "Interpretations:
Bricks were used to build walls around Pyu and Mon sites in Myanmar and Thailand during
the early first millennium AD if not earlier. 1 Many of these bricks have lines on the ends or
across the width, patterns made with the fingers while the bricks were still soft. Unlike many
other diagnostic Pyu artefacts such as beads and coins, finger-marked bricks are not easily
collected or traded. They are cumbersome to transport over great distances, and even when reused
today tend to remain in the locality where they were first made.
The massive brick walls of Sriksetra, Beikthano and Halin are one of the principal features
used to identify these sites as Pyu, although it is now accepted that their occupation pre-dates
the construction of walls. Chinese emissaries in the 9th century AD described the city-wall of
the P’iao (Pyu) capital as being faced with glazed bricks, part of a general perception that
walls designate an area as urban. It has been suggested that the armies of the Nan-chao did not
think the newly founded kingdom of Bagan worthwhile to raid, as it had no fortified city
(Htin Aung 1967:31)..." |
| Author/creator: | | Elizabeth Moore |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar Historical Research Journal, No(13) June 2004, pp.1-57 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (256K) 30 pages |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 November 2004 |
|
| Title: | | Historical Geography of Burma: Creation of enduring patterns in the Pyu period |
| Date of publication: | | October 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | "Pyu civilization flourished during most of the first millennium AD at an urban and complex
level, and three patterns established by the Pyu were to leave major imprints on the
historical geography of Burma that endured until the late nineteenth century, when the
colonial conquest transformed the country demographically and economically. Firstly, the
Pyu preferred settlement in the Dry Zone, particularly in the valleys of the tributaries of
Burma's greatest rivers; secondly, there was development of a repertoire of Pyu irrigation
works operating on a variety of scales and firmly imbedded in social structures as well as in
these particular environments and economies; and thirdly, at a time of dominance of
Mahayana sects in Indian Buddhism, the Pyus adopted Theravada Buddhism, thereby
striking a note that has reverberated in Burma ever since..." |
| Author/creator: | | Janice Stargardt |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Newsletter, Issue 25, International Institute for Asian Studies (Leiden) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Nyaung-gan: A Preliminary Note on a Bronze Age Cemetery near Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma) |
| Date of publication: | | April 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | Abstract:
Preliminary excavations were made in 1998 at a cemetery south of Nyaung-gan
Village, near Mandalay, in central Myanmar (Burma). The site is located on the
edge of a volcanic crater; there are nearby copper deposits. Three main types of
artifacts were recovered from the excavation: ceramics, stone rings, and bronzes.
Survey of the surrounding area includes possible smelting and stone ring production
sites. Much remains to be learned about the Nyaung-gan cemetery, but it is already
clear that the finds from the site contribute greatly to the knowledge of Myanmar
prehistory. Keywords: Burma, Myanmar, prehistory, Pyu, stone rings, Southeast
Asia.
moore and pauk . bronze age cemetery near mandalay 47" ...
Summary:
"Nyaung-gan adds a new dimension to the prehistory of Myanmar. Despite many
differences between Pyu sites and their repertory of finds, the presence of
Nyaung-gan type bronzes at Halin suggests the possibility of an earlier occupation
of some Pyu sites. The cemetery location is also significant, both its siting on
the crater and adjacent to the rich copper deposits on the opposite bank of the
Chindwin. The area's low rainfall and access to navigable waterways links it to
other sites in the central zone, Pyu, and Pagan. The discoveries at Nyaung-gan
extend into prehistory a long-term pattern of occupation, technological developments,
and the beginnings of urbanism within the most arid region of the country.
Further research may also bear out evidence of continuity in mortuary practices
between Pyu and earlier periods, such as the use of inhumation and urn
burials. The possibility of Bronze Age burials at Pyu sites also deserves further investigation." |
| Author/creator: | | Elizabeth Moore and Pauk Pauk |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "Asian Perspectives: Journal of Archaeology for Asia & the Pacific, Vol. 40 issue 1 (Spring 2001) pp. 35-47 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (155K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Modern-day salt production at the ancient Pyu city of Halin |
| Description/subject: | | U Nyo Win is the archaeological custodian at Halingyi. "this little monograph, with pictures, might be of interest to anthropologists, language students etc. (Bob Hudson) |
| Author/creator: | | U Nyo Win |
| Language: | | Burmese |
| Format/size: | | PDF (710K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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